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RumiA mi' United States Patent O METHOD oF xNrrrlNG Isaac H. C. GreenPawtucket, R. I., assignor to Hemphill Company, Centi'al Falls, R. I., acorporation of Massachusetts Original No. 2,588,718, dated March 11,1952, Serial No. 196,157, November 17, 1950. Application for reissueAugust 12, 1954, Serial No. 449,537

6 Claims. (Cl. 66-201) Matter enclosed in heavy brackets [l appears inthe original patent but forms no part of this reissue specilication;matter printed in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

This invention relates to a method of knitting plain hosiery fabricwhich is ornamented by diagonal 1 1nes of contrasting color composed ofknitted loops which are interknitted with adjacent loops and are notsuperimposed thereon.

Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing illustrate diagrammatically a section ofknitted fabric having such a d1agonal line.

Referring to the drawing, the first course 1 is assumed to have beenknit from left to right. It is composedof a series of plain knittedloops of a body yarn of a single color. Course 2 is knit in the oppositedirection, l. e., from right to left and is also composed of a series ofsimilar loops of the same yarn knitted through thel loops of the firstcourse in every wale with the exception of wale 8 across which it isfloated as shown at 14.

The knitting of the body yarn is now discontinued and a second yarnwhich will be called herein the overlay yam is knitted from left toright into wale 8 as shown at by being knit through the loop of' thecorresponding wale in course 1. It is also knit from right to leftthrough the body yarn loop 16 of course 2 as shown at 17.

The knitting of the overlay yarn is now stopped and course 3 iscompleted by knitting the body yarn from left to right through all ofthe loops of course 2 including the loop l5 of the overlay yarn and withthe exception that it is not knitted but floated past loop 17 of theoverlay yarn as shown at 18. The direction of knitting is now reversedagain and course 4 is knitted from right to left of the body yarnthrough all of the loops of course 3 with the exception of wale 10across which it is floated as shown at 19. Changing yarns again to theoverlay yarn and knitting from left to right, loop 20 is knitted throughloop 21 in the wale 10 of course 3 and reversing direction again loop 22is also knitted through loop 23 of course 4. Then the yarn is changedagain to the body yarn and course 5 is completed by knitting it fromleft to right through all of the loops of course 4 with the exception ofthe wale occupied by overlay yarn loop 22 behind which it is floated asat 24. The next course 6 is also knit of the body yarn but from right toleft through all of the loops of course 5 with the exception of wale l2across which it is floated. Then the knitting of the body yarn isdiscontinued and the overlay yarn is knitted into wale 12 of course 6 asshown at 25. Also, it is knitted into wale 13 through body yarn loop 26of course 6. This loop will be included in course 7 when this sequenceis repeated as required to obtain the desired length of diagonal stripeor line formed by the overlay yarn.

Also. as will be obvious, the overlay stripe may be knitted in theopposite diagonal direction to form crosses, diamonds, angles or otherdecorative shapes and it may be utilized in the knitting of hosierysuch, for example, as the well known reciprocatorily knit solid colordiamond or argyle stockings in which it may form a narrow stripebisecting in each diagonal direction the usual combination of diamondpatterns. 0n the other hand, it may be utilized to form other patternswithin such diamonds.

Although the overlay stripe described above consists of a single loop ineach course offset from the corresponding loop of the preceding courseby a single wale,

Re. 23,928 Reiasued Jan. 18, 1955 broader stripes may be obtained byknitting two or more consecutive loops of the overlay yarn in eachinstance and offsetting both of them in the manner described above. Insuch a case, the body yarn would, of course, be floated behind the twoor more overlay yarn loops in each instance. Also, if desired, theoffset may be of more than a single wale thus changing or varying theslope of the overlay stripe.

Reference herein to a course of knitting does not necessarily refer to acomplete course as in a circular knit stocking, for example, but to anypart of a fabric.

Although this invention has been shown and described as consisting ofplain knitted fabric knitted into each course of which is a single loopof another yarn, each of these loops being offset from the previoussimilar loops so that single course offsets are created, itwill beunderstood that two course offsets can be produced by knitting twoidentical courses of the body yarn, each having a float in the same waleor wales, knitting into these wales the other or overlay yarn and thenrepeating the process with the exception that the float in each of thenext two courses of the body yarn is offset from the corresponding floatin each of the two preceding courses.

I claim:

l. A method of knitting which includes the steps of knitting twoconsecutive courses of a body yarn in each of which the yarn is floatedacross a space equal to at least one wale and knitting an overlay intoeach float[ed] Wale, the overlay yarn in one course being knittedsubsequently to the formation of the float and, in the other course,being knitted prior to the formation of the float.

2. A method of knitting which includes the steps of knitting twoconsecutive courses of a body yarn in each of which the yarn is floatedacross a space equal to at least one wale and knitting an overlay intoeach fioat[ed] wale, the overlay yarn in one course being knittedsubsequently to the formation of the float and, in the other course,being knitted prior to the formation of the float and being offset by atleast one wale in relation to the overlay knitted into said firstmentioned course.

3. A method of knitting a design of a first yarn into a fabric of asecond yarn which includes the steps of knitting, in a given course, aplurality of loops of said second yarn while floating said second yarnacross a Wale or wales of said course in which said design of said firstyarn is to be incorporated; knitting in said oat[ed] wale or wales aloop or loops of said first yarn; knitting, in a course next adjacentsaid given course, a loop or loops of said first yarn in a given wale orwales according to said design; and knitting, in said adjacent course,except in said given wale or wales, a loop or loops of said second yarn.

4. A method of knitting which includes the steps of knitting a partialcourse of consecutive loops of a body yarn floating the yarn across aspace equal to that required for one loop and then completing the courseby knitting consecutive loops, changing yarns to an overlay yam andknitting a loop through the corresponding loop of a preceding course inthe wale containing the oat, knitting another loop of the overlay yarnthrough the loop of the first mentioned course adjacent to the wale inwhich a float occurred, then knitting a complete course of a body yarnwith the exception that this yarn is floated across the wale in whichthe overlay yarn was last knitted and repeating this sequence asdesired, the overlay yarn loop being ofi'set in each succeeding courseby at least one wale.

5. A method of knitting which includes the steps of knitting a partialcourse of consecutive loops of a body yarn, floating the yarn across aspace equal to that required for one loop and then completing the courseby knitting consecutive loops, changing yarns to an overlay yarn andknitting a loop through the corresponding loop of a preceding course inthe wale containing the float, knitting another loop of the overlay yarnthrough the loop of the first mentioned course offset by at least onewale from that in which the float occurred, then knitting a completecourse of the body yarn with the exception that this yarn is floatedacross the wale in which the overlay yarn was last knitted and repeatingthis sequence as desired, the overlay yarn loop being oset in eachsucceeding course by at least one Wale.

[6. A method of knitting which includes the steps of knitting a partialcourse of consecutive loops of a body yarn floating the yarn across aspace equal to that required for one or more loops and then completingthe course by knitting consecutive loops, changing yarns to an overlayyarn and knitting a loop through each of the corresponding loops of apreceding course in the wale or wales containing the oat, knitting thesame number of loops of the overlay yarn through loops of the rstmentioned course offset to the extent of at least one loop from the Waleor wales in which the oat occurred, then knitting 'a' complete course ofthe body yarn with the exception that this is floated across the wale orwales in which the overlay yarn was last knitted and repeating thissequence as desired, the overlay yarn loops being offset in eachsucceeding course by at least one wale.]

7. A method of knitting which includes the steps of knitting a partialcourse of consecutive loops of a body yarn, floating the yarn across aspace equal to that required for one or more loops and then completingthe course by knitting consecutive loops, changing yarns to an overlayyarn and knitting a loop or loops through the corresponding loop orloops of a preceding course in the wale or wales containing the float,knitting the overlay yarn in the wale or wales of the first mentionedcourse oset to the extent of at least one wale from the wale or wales inwhich the float occurs, then knitting a complete course 0f the body yarnwith the exception that this yarn is floated across the wale or wales inwhich the overlay yarn was last knitted, and repeating this sequence asdesired, the overlay yarn loop 0r loops being offset in each succeedingcourse by at least one wale.

References Cited in the tile of this patent or the original patentUNITED STATES PATENTS 2,451,214 Green Oct. 12, 1948 20 2,680,961Thurston lune l5, 1954

